London: Tops in NFL Average Attendance for 2015

Published on January 26, 2016 by Henry Royse
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Since the 2007 season, the NFL International Series has grown increasingly popular across the pond. The first game saw the New York Giants defeating the Miami Dolphins 13 – 10 at Wembley Stadium in London and boasted an attendance of 81,176. This attendance figure shows the attendance for every International Series game played to date:

International Series Game Attendance Figures

Date

Visiting Team

Score

Home Team

Score

Attendance

October 28, 2007

New York Giants

13

Miami Dolphins

10

81,176

October 26, 2008

San Diego Chargers

32

New Orleans Saints

37

83,226

October 25, 2009

New England Patriots

35

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

7

84,254

October 31, 2010

Denver Broncos

16

San Francisco 49ers

24

83,941

October 23, 2011

Chicago Bears

24

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

18

76,981

October 28, 2012

New England Patriots

45

St. Louis Rams

7

84,004

September 29, 2013

Pittsburgh Steelers

27

Minnesota Vikings

34

83,518

October 27, 2013

San Francisco 49ers

42

Jacksonville Jaguars

10

83,559

September 28, 2014

Miami Dolphins

38

Oakland Raiders

14

83,436

October 26, 2014

Detroit Lions

22

Atlanta Falcons

21

83,532

November 9, 2014

Dallas Cowboys

31

Jacksonville Jaguars

17

83,603

October 4, 2015

New York Jets

27

Miami Dolphins

14

83,986

October 25, 2015

Buffalo Bills

31

Jacksonville Jaguars

34

84,021

November 1, 2015

Detroit Lions

10

Kansas City Chiefs

45

83,624

As the season comes to a close it looks like the three NFL games played in London at Wembley Stadium will be the highest average attendance for the 2015/2016 season. These attendance numbers have sparked a debate asking; why not move an NFL team to London?

Analysts and media entities think that a likely candidate for the move would be the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jaguars average attendance figures since 2010 - 2014 have been: 63,032, 62,331, 64,984, 59,940, and 65,541 respectively. A move to London would undoubtedly increase attendance and, in turn, increase revenue for the franchise. While these figures would are plenty of incentive for the NFL, there are other factors to consider.

The Opposition

Those who oppose the expansion cite lengthy travel times, exchange rates, and other concerns as to why an NFL team in London would be a difficult transition for players and employees of the franchise. While these are legitimate concerns, analysts seem to think that a new bargaining agreement would give members of the expansion franchise salaries and benefits on a level competitive with the teams in the United States.

MLB is Closing the Popularity Gap with the NFL

An expansion to London would be a great move not only for the NFL, but also for the sport of football as a whole. Over the past few years, Americans have increasingly chosen Major League Baseball over the NFL as their favorite sport. According to the annual study called the Harris Poll, at its peak of popularity in 2011 (36%), the NFL had a 23% lead over the MLB as the favorite sport of Americans. In the most recent poll, only 32% of Americans picked the professional football as their favorite sport. This figure is down 3% from last year and the NFL now has just a 16% lead over Major League Baseball.

It is time for the NFL to make a move that would increase popularity of the sport not only in the US, but around the World and what better way to increase popularity than to place a team in one of the World’s largest cities. London has all of the makings of a great NFL city. With a huge market, an increasing fan base, and potential to draw fans from all over Europe, there is plenty of reason to make the move in the next few years.